Environmental context. Carp are responsible for causing significant damage to lakes and rivers resulting in highly turbid water impacting native fish. At present there are no effective ways to manage the damage caused by carp or eradicate them, but the efficiency of carp removal from our waterways can be enhanced by the development of naturally occurring environmental attractants. As part of a broader pest management scheme the implementation of these attractants can significantly enhance the effectiveness of eradication programs and lead to the restoration of our waterways. Abstract. Cyprinus carpio, a species of carp commonly known as European or common carp, are invasive alien species in Australian inland waters and have an extensive impact on biodiversity and the aquatic environment. The control and eradication of carp is a major focus of fisheries services throughout Australia, but at present there is no wholly successful way to limit the damage caused. An integrated pest management scheme (IPM) is the most likely approach to be effective. Such a scheme could employ current tactics such as trapping in combination with new strategies including attractants or deterrents. Among proposed attractants are environmentally derived chemicals. Carp have long been observed to prefer certain habitats and environmental conditions over others, although the reasons for such a preference are not well defined. This article reviews the current scientific literature for chemical reception and attraction in carp with an emphasis on environmentally derived attractants and the potential for use of these chemical cues to enhance IPM strategies with minimal environmental impact.


Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a complex foreign market entry mode which involves the ownership and control of assets in a foreign market or direct ownership of facilities in the target country. Foreign Direct Investment contributes to the growth of domestic firms through complementarities in production and productivity spillovers. With the ever-changing environment, entry mode decisions and how to cope with such changes are very challenging to International Business Managers as wrong decisions could be irreversible and costly on the long run. Kenya has been involved in Global trade for many years, but mainly in the agricultural sector and with the US Congress passing the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2000, and enhanced by the formation of the Export Processing Zones ( EPZ) in Kenya, there is renewed interest in the once declining apparel manufacturing industry with the inflow of Foreign Direct Investments into the apparel sector mainly within the Export zones in order to reap the incentives offered by the EPZ Scheme. With the window of opportunity presented by AGOA which provided the major market expected to close in September 2015 and compounded by other challenges like the deterioration of the Kenyan infrastructure, port congestion, poor supply and cost of electricity, and high cost of labor, this study attempted to investigate the challenges of Foreign Direct Investment faced by firms in the apparel manufacturing industry in the Kenyan export processing zones and the measures adopted by the firms in dealing with the challenges. Data for the study was collected from fourteen out of the fifteen FDI firms in the apparel manufacturing industry in the Kenya export processing zone using drop and pick method. Analysis of the data concluded that fiscal policy, state and cost of infrastructure, customs regulations and market and product are the major sources of challenges. The study highlighted that political, legal and social variables, human resource variables are not major challenges with land related challenges not a challenge.EPZ Authority generated measures were the most effective measure in dealing with the challenges faced by the FDI. Flowever, others such as corporate social responsibility measures, in-house generated measures, parent company generated and globally outsourced measures equally play a pivotal role in helping deal with the effects of the challenges. Trade organization /affiliates, Non governmental /lobby groups and other Kenya Government ministry /agency were providing the least assistance to overcome the challenges. A study on the factors that promote effective growth of foreign direct investment in apparel manufacturing industry in Kenya, a comparative study on challenges that affect locally owned and foreign direct investment in apparel manufacturing industry in Kenya and a study on the service levels, the strengths and effectiveness of the Export processing zones authority is recommended. The Government by strengthening the EPZ Authority, ministries and affiliates should facilitate more interaction with the foreign direct investors to overcome the challenges. The investors on their part should form lobby group to enable them to market their product more easily.


Nanotechnology is a rapidly growing field and industrial developments are more and more challenged by potential health and safety risks pertaining to manufactured nanomaterials. This matter is far from being solved due to the current lack of reliable data addressing occupational safety as well as environmental field. In this context, the Control Banding (CB) approach appears particularly interesting to assess ESH risks associated to nanomaterials. Our study focuses more specifically on four CB methods which have been analysed in order to highlight their a priori limits and evaluate their effectiveness for perform risk assessment in the industry. Our study concludes that too conservative frameworks, multiplicity of factors and complex algorithm are critical elements that can limit the effectiveness of the tools for risk assessment in the industry.


Based on the Gateaux differential on time scales, we investigate and establish necessary conditions for Lagrange optimal control problems on time scales. Moreover, we present an economic model to demonstrate the effectiveness of our results.


Author(s): Wang, Y; Mazer, SJ; Freckleton, RP; Yuan, Z; Wang, X; Du, Y; Lin, L; Wang, X; Sang, W; Liu, X; Hao, Z | Abstract: © 2019 International Association for Vegetation Science Questions: All else being equal, populations of dioecious species with a 50:50 sex ratio have only half the effective reproductive population size of bisexual species of equal abundance. Consequently, there is a need to explain how dioecious and bisexual species coexist. Increased mean individual seed mass, fecundity, and population density have all been proposed as attributes of unisexual individuals or populations that may contribute to the persistence or resilience of dioecious species. To date, no studies have compared sympatric dioecious and cosexual species with respect to all three components of fitness. In this study, we sought evidence for these compensatory advantages (higher seed mass, greater seed production per unit basal area, and higher population density) in dioecious species. Location: Five 20–25 ha forest dynamic plots spanning a latitudinal gradient in China, including two temperate, two subtropical, and one tropical forest. Methods: We used a phylogenetically corrected generalized linear modelling approach to assess the phylogenetic dependence and joint evolution of sexual system, seed mass and production, and ecological abundances among 48–333 species and 32,568–136,237 individuals per forest. Results: Across all five forests, we detected no consistent advantage for dioecious relative to sympatric cosexual species with respect to mean individual seed mass, seed production or the density of stems in any size class. Conclusions: Our study suggests that seed traits may provide compensatory mechanisms in some forests, but most often the coexistence of sexual systems cannot be explained by advantages of dioecy related to seed quality and demographic parameters. Future investigations of the factors that promote coexistence may increase our understanding by expanding the search to include attributes such as lifespan and tolerance or resistance to herbivores.


This paper presents a Doherty power amplifier (PA) in 22nm FD-SOI for achieving high output power and high backoff efficiency for 28GHz 5G communications. The output stage of the main PA and the auxiliary PA both use a stacked-FET topology for high output power without posing a reliability issue. A dedicated transformer-based output matching network is proposed to achieve a true Doherty load modulation while maintaining a compact layout. The PA is fabricated in a 22nm FD-SOI technology with a core area of 0.2mm2. At 28GHz, the measured saturated output power (Psat), 1dB output compression point (P1dB), and peak power-added efficiency (PAE) are 22.5dBm, 21.1dBm, and 28.5%, respectively. State-of-the-art ITRS figure-of-merit (FOM) and power density are achieved. The measured 6dB power back-off (PBO) PAE is 22.1%, which results in a PBO enhancement ratio of 1.56/3.12 with respect to a class-B/class-A PA. The proposed PA can support 2.4Gb/s 64-QAM and 0.8Gb/s 256-QAM signal with a competitive average PAE.


Acidolysis, complexolysis and metal accumulation were involved in solubilization of zinc phosphate and pyromorphite by a selection of soil fungi representing ericoid and ectomycorrhizal plant symbionts and an endophytic/entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria caledonica. Zinc phosphate was much more readily solubilized than pyromorphite. According to the relationship between metal mobilization and pH, acidolysis (protonation) was found to be the major mechanism of both zinc phosphate and pyromorphite dissolution for most of the fungi examined. In general, the more metal tolerant fungal strains yielded more biomass, acidified the medium more and dissolved more of the metal mineral than less tolerant strains. However, B. caledonica 4 excreted a substantial amount of oxalic acid (∼ 0.8 mM) in the presence of pyromorphite that coincided with a dramatic increase in lead mobilization providing a clear example of complexolysis. Organic acid excretion by fungi was inter- and intraspecific and was strongly influenced by the presence of the toxic metal minerals. When grown on zinc phosphate or pyromorphite, Hymenoscyphus ericae DGC3(UZ) accumulated the lowest metal concentration, but Thelephora terrestris accumulated the highest metal concentration in the biomass. The ability to accumulate water-soluble lead species, representing mainly cytosolic and vacuolar pools, seemed to be connected with pyromorphite-solubilizing ability. B. caledonica 4, which demonstrated the highest ability to dissolve pyromorphite, accumulated the highest water-soluble fraction and total lead concentration in the mycelium. Generally, isolates with a higher zinc-tolerance accumulated significantly less total zinc from zinc phosphate (including the sum of water-soluble and NaCl-extractable zinc) than non-tolerant strains.


We investigate numerically the dynamics of two-dimensional Euler and ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) flows in systems with a finite number of modes, up to 4096(2), for which several quadratic invariants are preserved by the truncation and the statistical equilibria are known. Initial conditions are the Orszag-Tang vortex with a neutral X point centered on a stagnation point of the velocity field in the large scales. In MHD, we observe that the total energy spectra at intermediate times and intermediate scales correspond to the interactions of eddies and waves, E(T)(k)~k(-3/2). Moreover, no pseudodissipative range is visible for either Euler or ideal MHD in two dimensions. In the former case, this may be linked to the existence of a vanishing turbulent viscosity whereas in MHD, the numerical resolution employed may be insufficient. When imposing a uniform magnetic field to the flow, we observe a lack of saturation of the formation of small scales together with a significant slowing down of their equilibration, with however a cutoff independent partial thermalization being reached at intermediate scales.


The development of pulmonary arterial hypertension in the setting of portal hypertension is known as portopulmonary hypertension. Portal hypertension is thought to predispose patients to disturbances in the homeostatic regulation of numerous neurohumoral and vasoactive mediators that induce the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Portopulmonary hypertension is pathologically indistinguishable from idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension and is characterized by the development of vasoconstriction, vascular remodeling, and thrombosis within the pulmonary vasculature. Although described in patients with both cirrhotic and noncirrhotic portal hypertension, portopulmonary hypertension is most prevalent among patients with end-stage liver disease, and its severity seems to be independent of the etiology or severity of liver disease. All liver transplant candidates must be screened for the presence of portopulmonary hypertension because of the high perioperative mortality risk of liver transplantation associated with this condition. Primary screening for portopulmonary hypertension consists of Doppler-estimated pulmonary artery systolic pressure measurement during echocardiography. However, the diagnosis of portopulmonary hypertension is based on unique hemodynamic criteria as determined by right heart catheterization. Untreated portopulmonary hypertension portends a poor prognosis, and the efficacy of current treatment modalities is limited. At present, the primary goals of therapy are to provide symptomatic relief, prolong survival, and improve pulmonary hemodynamics to facilitate safe and successful liver transplantation.


This article provides insights into the observed ground‐motion records from the 14 November 2016 M w 7.8 Kaikoura earthquake. Specific detail is given in examining observations in the near source and those in the urban Wellington and Lower Hutt regions through a combination of time series and response spectra to help in understanding salient source, path, and site effects. Several ground motions exceeding 1.0 g horizontal are recorded, as well as up to 2.7 g in the vertical direction at one location. The complexity associated with multifault rupture is clearly evident in several strong‐motion stations in the near‐source region. Significant site‐effect case histories from sedimentary and reclaimed soil deposits and topographic effects are observed in the Wellington and Lower Hutt regions. To provide further insights, predictions from preliminary broadband ground‐motion simulations are examined to more directly interpret the observations.


Work-piece elastic deformation caused by clamping force from fixture will lead to part bending or distorting, which is critical to lower its quality performance. In this paper, a novel zonal compensation method is proposed to compensate the work-piece elastic deformation through fixture layout optimization based on High Definition Metrology (HDM). The zonal surface flatness data of work-piece in fixture is obtained with densely optical measurement firstly. Then, they are reorganized according to the accuracy requirement based on the zonal distribution. Finally, the surface flatness compensation model based on fixture layout is made. The practicality and effectiveness of this new approach was verified using the case of Aluminum alloy 6061 part milling.


This study examines teachers' work with paper-based, technology and social resources with the use of two theoretical frameworks: the Documentational approach and the Knowledge Quartet. The former affords looking at teachers' resources and resource systems and how these are utilized under schemes of work. The latter affords a closer look at teachers' work during lessons and at their knowledge-in-action. Specifically, the study investigates how four upper secondary teachers use, re-use and balance their resources by looking at their schemes of work in class, through lesson observations; and, by reflecting on the details of their work and knowledge-in-action in pre- and post-observation interviews. Analysis examines five themes in relation to teachers' work. First, teachers use students' contributions as a resource during lessons. Second, teachers connect (or not) different resources. Third, institutional factors, such as examinations requirements and school policy, have impact on teachers' decisions and on how they balance their resource use. Fourth, when mathematics-education software is used, teacher knowledge of the software comes into play. Fifth, there is ambiguity in the identification of contingency moments, particularly regarding whether these moments were anticipated (or not) or provoked by the teacher. These five themes also suggest theoretical findings. In relation to the Knowledge Quartet, the findings indicate the potency of adding a few new codes or extending existing codes. This is especially pertinent in the context of teaching upper secondary mathematics with technology resources. In relation to the Documentational approach, this study introduces two constructs: scheme-in-action and re-scheming. A scheme-in-action is the scheme followed in class and documented from the classroom. Re-scheming is scheming again or differently from one lesson to another. Finally, the study discusses implications for practice and proposes the use of key incidents extracted from classroom observations towards the development of teacher education resources (e.g. for the MathTASK programme).


What happens when the allegedly value-free social sciences enter the national political arena? In The Social Sciences Go to Washington, scholars examine the effects of the massive influx of sociologists, demographers, economists, educators, and others to the federal advisory process in the postwar period. Essays look at how these social scientists sought to change existing policies in welfare, public health, urban policy, national defense, environmental policy, and science and technology policy, and the ways they tried to influence future policies. Policymakers have been troubled that followers of postmodernism have questioned the legitimacy of scientific and political authority to speak for the desires of social groups. As the social sciences increasingly become expressions of individual preferences, the contributors ask, how can they continue to be used to set public policy for us all? This collection is a useful resource for anyone studying the relationship between science and the government in the postwar years.


The micromanipulation and mounting of micron-sized grains is a specialist skill that re-quires training and patience. Over the years, as new instrumentation has enabled analysis of ever smaller particles, it has been recognised that there is a need to develop new and different methods for the manipulation of individual grains, methods that are keyed specifically to the types of analyses that are to be carried out.
Methods frequently used to manipulate micron-sized grains include use of electrostatic forces to keep the sample in position, mounting in epoxy resin or glue or crushing of the sample into a soft metallic substrate, but all have their drawbacks. Electrostatic forces are useful to transfer very small grains for short times, for example from one glass slide to another within a clean bench. Electrostatic forces lack precision and stability, and cannot be used as a stand-alone technique, for ex-ample if sample transfer to other facilities is needed. Samples > 30 μm in diameter are also too heavy to rely on electrostatic attraction to 'stick' to a needle.
Epoxy resin or glue is a universally-recognised and ideal technique for mounting of samples that require polishing for quantitative analysis. Unfortunately, though, three dimensional context is lost, as is information about any material adhering to the outside of the grain. Even more problematic, though, are the levels of contamination, especially organic contamination, associated with resin. It is practically impossible to re-move all the resin from a mounted sample, so once mounted, the grain is not really suitable for trace-level studies of organic material.
If a sample is crushed into a substrate, such as indium, three-dimensional information is again lost and organic contamination levels increased. Of course, these techniques are essential for, e.g., SIMS analysis, and for spectroscopy studies if indigenous organic molecules are not the focus of the work. All of these traditional methods will invariably physically damage or contaminate small samples; if the sample is to be studied by others at a later date, then these issues are significant and undesirable.
Few, if any, modern studies have been performed specifically to develop and assess success of mounting and manipulation methods of these very small but precious materials. Yet with the forthcoming return of samples from the Hayabusa 2 and Osiris-Rex missions, as well as from missions to the Moon and Mars, a new grain handling technique may be required to enable the most science-rich analyses of the returned materials to be performed. Our study aims to mount a silicate mineral test grain of 50 – 80 μm diameter to enable the sample to be analysed by several methods, such as SEM, Raman spectroscopy and micro X-ray CT, with-out requiring separate mounts for each technique. Our method uses liquid sulfur as an adhesive, which has been used as an encasing medium for IDPs [1].


This paper critically reviews the popular proposition that 'power breeds responsibility'. It first explains why this proposition is intuitively appealing. Particularly in situations where multiple actors contribute to harm, power can be a criterion for determining who of a multitude of actors should bear responsibility. For instance, much of the case law on extra territorial human rights protection is based on a concept of power. The paper then explains why this intuition can be misleading. Saying that power informs responsibility is begging the question what type of power triggers what type of responsibility in what way. The paper focuses in particular on the ambiguity of the concept of power (different meanings of power have different implications for responsibility) and on the duality of the power-responsibility relationship (power itself may be constituted or influenced by responsibility). While generally speaking power indeed is highly relevant in explaining the allocation of responsibility between multiple parties, power is best considered as a compound concept that can take different forms, and which may pull in different directions, depending on the perspective from which power is analysed and the context in which it is applied.


This study sought evidence of clozapine's alleged selectivity at D1 receptors in vivo (Altar C.A. et al 1988, NaunynSchmiedebergs Arch. Pharmacol.,338:162-168), by comparing clozapine with the D1 antagonist SCH 23390 in an interactive behavioural test with D2 antagonists. In the non-habituated mouse SCH 23390, the D2 antagonists metoclopramide and sulpiride, the mixed D1 /D2 antagonist haloperidol and clozapine, all suppressed species-typical behaviours dose-dependently. A threshold dose of SCH 23390 (0.01 mg/kg) interacted synergistically with metoclopramide and sulpiride to inhibit locomotion, to reduce rearing, and to facilitate grooming. This low dose of SCH 23390 had little effect on the behavioural responses elicited by haloperidol or clozapine. The lack of synergism between SCH 23390 and either haloperidol and clozapine, is consistent with these two neuroleptics possessing intrinsic D1 blocking activity of their own, which is not supplanted by SCH 23390. In contrast, a threshold dose of clozapine (0.2 mg/kg), when combined with the D2-inhibitory benzamides, did not affect exploratory movements but released a variable increase in grooming. It is concluded from this behavioural test of D1/D2 antagonist interactions, that while clozapine is probably capable of blocking D1 receptors in the brain, it lacks the potency and/or selectivity of SCH 23390.


This is a new paperback edition of the first collected volume from the Cairo School of Urban Studies. Bringing together a distinguished interdisciplinary group of scholars, this volume explores what happens when new forms of privatization meet collectivist pasts, public space is sold off to satisfy investor needs and tourist gazes, and the state plans for Egypt's future in desert cities while stigmatizing and neglecting Cairo's popular neighborhoods. These dynamics produce surprising contradictions and juxtapositions that are coming to define today's Middle East. The original publication of this volume launched the Cairo School of Urban Studies, committed to fusing political-economy and ethnographic methods and sensitive to ambivalence and contingency, to reveal the new contours and patterns of modern power emerging in the urban frame.


Research on T-configuration aluminum constructions effectively decreases fuel consumption, increases strength, and develops aerial structures. In this research, the effects of friction stir welding (FSW) tool offset (TO) on Al–Mg–Si alloy mixing and bonding in T-configurations is studied. The process is simulated by the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) technique to better understand the material mixing flow and the bonding between the skin and flange during FSW. According to the results, the best material flow can be only achieved at an appropriate TO. The appropriate TO generates enough material to fill the joint line and results in formation of the highest participation of the flange in the stir zone (SZ) area. The results show that, in the T-configuration, FSW joints provide raw materials from the retreating side (RS) of the flange that play a primary role in producing a sound mixing flow. The selected parameters were related to the geometric limitations of the raw sheets considered in this study. The failure point of all tensile samples was located on the flange. Surface tunneling is the primary defect in these joints, which is produced at high TOs. Among the analyzed cases, the most robust joint was made at +0.2 mm TO on the advancing side (AS), resulting in more than 60% strength of the base aluminum alloy being retained.


Using a luciferase reporter assay, we previously demonstrated that a Z-DNA-forming sequence of alternating thymine–guanine repeats in the human heme oxygenase-1 gene (HO-1) promoter is involved in nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2 (NF-E2)–related factor 2 (Nrf2)-mediated HO-1 promoter activation. However, the actual Z-DNA formation in this native genomic locus has not been experimentally demonstrated. To detect Z-DNA formation in vivo, we generated a construct containing the Z-DNA-binding domain of human adenosine deaminase acting on double-stranded RNA 1 fused with enhanced green fluorescence protein, designated as the Z-probe. A chromatin immunoprecipitation assay using an anti-GFP antibody showed that the Z-probe detects the well-characterized Z-DNA formation in the CSF1 promoter. Using this detection system, we demonstrated that the glutathione-depleting agent, diethyl maleate, induced Nrf2-dependent Z-DNA formation in the HO-1 promoter, but not in the thioredoxin reductase 1 gene promoter. Moreover, a time course analysis revealed that Z-DNA formation precedes HO-1 transcriptional activation. Concurrent with Z-DNA formation, nucleosome occupancy was reduced, and the recruitment of RNA polymerase II was enhanced in the HO-1 promoter region, suggesting that Z-DNA formation enhances HO-1 gene transcription. Furthermore, Nrf2-induced BRG1 recruitment to the HO-1 promoter temporarily occurred simultaneously with Z-DNA formation. Thus, these results implicate Nrf2-dependent Z-DNA formation in HO-1 transcriptional activation and suggest the involvement of BRG1 in Z-DNA formation.


Animal movement is an important process connecting habitats in heterogeneous landscapes, and can play a key role in population persistence. Laboratory swim trials were conducted to determine and compare the dispersal capabilities of two native Australian fish, mountain galaxias (Galaxias olidus, Family Galaxiidae) and southern pygmy perch (Nannoperca australis, Family Nannopercidae) that maintain populations in hydrologically variable and intermittently flowing streams in south-eastern Australia. These experiments showed that G. olidus had significantly greater swimming endurance under a range of flow velocities. Concurrent field surveys were used to establish whether swimming abilities observed in laboratory studies were consistent with patterns of inferred movement from distribution and abundance patterns observed in the field. Data collected at multiple sites from headwater to lowland reaches along multiple streams revealed substantial temporal changes in the distribution of young-of-year (0+) G. olidus, with spawning occurring at upland sites in winter, followed by downstream larval migration and subsequent upstream movement in late spring. Observed spatial and temporal patterns in G. olidus abundances were consistent with a source-sink population structure, which may be disrupted by prolonged cease-to-flow periods during drought years. In contrast, results for N. australis suggested limited dispersal, with restricted local populations that persist at sites with permanent surface water. These field and laboratory findings complement our understanding of the spatial population structure of these two species in intermittent streams, and highlight the importance of understanding the role of dispersal in species conservation and habitat restoration.


by Koji SERIZAWA**, Kazuma MIURA***, Toshiharu ISHIDA****, Shozo NAKAMURA For higher reliability of bonding of outer leads to TCP (Tape Carrier Package), research has been done on temperature changes in the wettability of leads, coated with Au, Sn and Sn-Pb, by Sn-Pb eutectic solder. From changes in the wetting force according to the wetting balance method, an apprent activation energy is obtained, with the speed of degradation of wettability defined, dependence on coating thickness measured, and a formula to obtain permissible temperature aging time presented. The speed of degradation is lowest with Au ; it rises much more with Sn. It has been determined that the difference between Sn-Pb and Sn comes from the fact that degradation due to diffusion of Cu (the core meterial of the lead), in the coated layer is more influential than that due to surface oxidation. By forming lap shear joints with test pieces that possess zero wetting force, it is proved that bonding is possible, and that the speed of degradation of strength can be defined like that for wettability.


The paper presents a new method, which could be used in bioengineering as assessment of walking recovery. The method is identification human gait model. It is based on regression finction, The method very accurately represents real data from experiment by model. The human body is a mass of complex segments, Walking involves a combination of complex movements of these segments. Computers can't cope with the fill complexity of the human body, We therefore have to make assumption to develop a simple model of the movement of the body which the computer can cope with mathematically and which we can understand, Modelling involves quite sophisticated computer programmed, Presented method is based on identification human gait model from power developed by muscle joints, We obtain coefficients of model that determine human movement. Evaluation parameters of gait is helpfhl in assessing abnormal gait, to quantify improvement resulting from intervention. Authors proposed a ambulatory system which could support decision making in medicine, This system consists from data base of patients, model of norms and model of different pathologies, The main block is identification human gait in this system. This system is usefid in several clinical situations to support decision making relate to treatment (rehabilitation, surgical treatment, medicine, etc.) , It provides satisfactory results for normal walking and abnormal gait. We have proposed a new diagnostic tool for gait analysis, which consists from electrogoniometer, digital filter, artificial


This paper presents a concise yet comprehensive description of a multichannel vehicle-to-infrastructure communication system. Existing mathematical models for such a system overlook some of its essential behavioral characteristics such as the reneging, force termination, and, ultimately, blocking of service requests (SRs). Thus, the reported performance results obtained from these models seem to be unrealistically overoptimistic. Accordingly, in this paper, a multiserver queueing model is proposed for the purpose of accurately capturing the dynamics of the aforementioned communication system and evaluating its performance. The proposed model is renowned for its complexity and the nonexistence of closed-form analytical expressions that characterize its fundamental performance metrics. Hence, approximations were exploited as a means to enhance this model's mathematical tractability. Simulations are conducted in the context of a realistic scenario with the objective of validating the proposed approximate model, verifying its accuracy, and characterizing the system's performance in terms of several new metrics. The simulations' results indicate a cataclysmic SR blocking probability in the range of 65%-85%.


Individuals with autism spectrum disorders often show low levels of melatonin, and it has been suggested that this decrease may be because of the low activity of the acetylserotonin O-methyltransferase (ASMT), the last enzyme in the melatonin-synthesis pathway. Also, genetic variants in ASMT have been associated with autism, as well as with low ASMT activity and melatonin levels, suggesting that the low ASMT activity observed in autism may partly be because of variations within the ASMT gene. In this study, we present a symptom-based approach to investigate possible associations between ASMT and autistic-like traits in the general population. To this end, continuous measures of autistic-like traits were assessed in a nationally representative twin cohort (n=1771) from Sweden and six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and a duplication of exons 2–8 in ASMT were genotyped. Our results show a nominally significant association, in girls, between one single nucleotide polymorphism (rs5949028) in the last intron of ASMT and social interaction impairments. No significant association, however, was observed with traits related to language impairment or restricted and repetitive behavior. In conclusion, our results support the possible involvement of the ASMT gene in autism spectrum disorders, and our finding that only one of the three traits shows association suggests that genetic research may benefit from adopting a symptom-specific approach to identify genes involved in autism psychopathology.


Recently deep neural networks have been successfully applied in channel coding to improve the decoding performance.
However, the state-of-the-art neural channel decoders cannot achieve high decoding performance and low complexity simultaneously. To overcome this challenge, in this paper we propose doubly residual neural (DRN) decoder. By integrating both the residual input and residual learning to the design of neural channel decoder, DRN enables significant decoding performance improvement while maintaining low complexity. Extensive experiment results show that on different types of channel codes, our DRN decoder consistently outperform the state-of-the-art decoders in terms of decoding performance, model sizes and computational cost.


The complexity of the training process, the increase of the demands in dealing with the training objectives, as well as the tendency to decrease the age of reaching the great performances in rhythmic gymnastics, are aspects that require the continuous improvement of the sports selection strategies. The current tendencies of the rhythmic gymnastics contest programs highlight exceptional performances, materialized in practice by higher difficulty technical executions with increased rates of reaction speed, the gymnast being forced to react quickly to stimuli, respectively to the movement of the object, for the success of the element or of the combination of elements. The reaction time has major implications in the efficiency of dealing with the specific technical elements, being especially important in the incipient stage of the formation of the skill for using the apparatus, respectively the I st stage of the sports training in the rhythmic gymnastics. The overall objective was to contribute to the improvement of the initial selection criteria in rhythmic gymnastics by objectively evaluating the complex reaction time to visual stimuli. The purpose of the study was to identify the importance and relevance of the TReaction Co software in the selection of gymnasts with real valences for practicing this sports field. The study was carried out on a sample of 30 gymnasts aged between 6 and 8 years old, in the sports hall of the UNEFS Bucharest. The testing was performed using the TReaction Co software, through which the complex reaction time was evaluated for the upper limbs -the dominant hand and the non-dominant hand. The results obtained by using the TReaction Co software were a useful step in completing the existing sources in the specialty literature of rhythmic gymnastics.


Background: Severe acute respiratory virus coronavirus-2 infection or coronavirus disease (COVID) is categorized into acute illness and late multiinflammatory syndrome in children (MISC). This has recently been challenged with recognition of presentations with mucocutaneous-enteric symptoms that display considerable overlap between the two. We recognized a similar overlap of manifestations when encountered the three cases of fever associated with unilateral parotitis. Clinical Description: The three patients were of different age groups ranging from 2 months to 7 years of age, all of whom presented with fever, unilateral swelling of face and neck consistent with the region of the parotid gland, and absence of other localizing symptoms or abnormalities on examination. All of them were positive for COVID antibodies, had negative COVID real-time polymerase chain reaction test, did not satisfy the diagnostic criteria of MISC, but had raised inflammatory markers. Since the workup for other common causes of acute parotitis was negative, a clinical diagnosis of post-COVID immune-mediated acute parotitis was kept. Management: All the three patients were managed with systemic steroids (oral or parenteral) and showed complete resolution of symptoms and normalization of laboratory parameters within a few days, a therapeutic response in alignment with an immune-mediated phenomenon. Conclusion: Acute unilateral parotitis with pyrexia may be a hitherto unreported late post-COVID manifestation that is immune mediated and shows an excellent therapeutic response to a short course of steroids.


The grid is inherently unreliable due to its geographical dispersion, heterogeneity and the involvement of multiple administrative domains. The most general case of failures are so-called Byzantine failures where no assumptions about the behavior of faulty components can be made. In this paper a novel system is described that allows to diagnose and tolerate byzantine faults based on service replication. We suggest, briefly describe and compare two fail-stop and two byzantine fault tolerance algorithms. Given that many scientific larger-scale grid applications have complex outputs the comparison of replica results as needed to implement byzantine fault tolerance becomes a non-trivial task. Therefore we include an automation mechanism based on a generic description language and code generation for this particualar problem. Our approach has been implemented as extension to the Otho Toolkit, a system that synthesizes tailor-made wrapper services for a given application, grid environment and resource. An analysis of performance and overheads for three real-world applications completes our work.


Current estimates of the intangible costs of violent crime, such as the pain, grief and suffering experienced by victims, are not very robust. This paper sets out the different methods that can be used to provide more defensible cost estimates, and that use data that are currently available. One of these methods involves estimating the number of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) that victims of crime lose. The estimates suggest that rape results in the biggest losses, followed (in descending order) by: other wounding, common assault, serious wounding, murder, robbery and sexual assault.


The mathematical model of solid-liquid interface is obtained by making an idealized hypothesis for parameters of the cooling process in gas-assisted injection molding, and simplifying the mathematical model. And then the cooling time of plastic products in the process is obtained by using two ways of solving the solid and liquid phases. And verified by example the conclusions that some plastic products of gas-assisted injection molding, when the materials and workmanship conditions are constant, cooling time of the airway is proportional to the square of the wall thickness is obtained.


Contradictory evidence has been reported on the effects of discovery learning approach and the role of instructional explanations. By manipulating the presence of instruction (verbal explanation) and transparency of problem structures, we investigated how effects of instructional explanations differed depending on the transparency of problem structure. We developed an auxiliary representational task that made certain aspects of the problem structure more transparent. Instruction proved irrelevant to those aspects of the problem made transparent by the representation but facilitated learning of those aspects that were left obscure. We suggest that the critical role of instruction is not specifying the steps in solving a problem, but rather making salient the features that are critical to student's ability to infer the steps from examples.


The idea that tobacco smoking may protect against COVID-19 was always an improbable one. Both wreak terrible tolls on human lives; as of 13th July 2021, COVID-19 has killed an estimated 4 million people while tobacco smoking kills 8 million people every year. 2 Yet some early evidence appeared to indicate that smoking tobacco was linked to a reduced risk of COVID-19 infection and death. This finding unsurprisingly generated substantial interest among researchers, the medical profession and the public. The paper by Clift et al in this issue advances our understanding of the links between tobacco smoking and COVID-19 by combining a range of relevant data to employ two separate analytic approaches. Together, these analyses suggest a causal role for tobacco smoking in COVID-19 severity. The authors linked data from UK Biobank with primary care records, COVID-19 testing data, hospital admissions and death certificates to perform both observational and Mendelian randomisation analyses. COVID-19 testing data were available only up until August 2020, meaning that data on confirmed infections were concentrated in hospital settings. The observational analyses did not find that current smokers were more likely to have confirmed COVID-19 infection, but they were more likely to be admitted to hospital and to die from the disease. For example, in models adjusting for age and sex, current smokers were more likely than never smokers to be admitted to hospital (OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.63 to 2.92) and to die from COVID-19 (OR 5.93 (95% CI 4.22 to 8.33). Mendelian randomisation analyses were possible only among white British participants, but these found that increased genetic propensity to start smoking was associated with being more likely to be infected with, and admitted to hospital for COVID-19. Increased risks of infection, hospitalisation and death were all found with increased genetically predicted heaviness of smoking. The Clift study confirms previous UK populationbased studies including the UCL COVID-19 Social Study, the ZOE COVID-19 Symptom Study and the openSAFELY data. Analyses of data from the ZOE app up until April 2020 assessed relationships of tobacco smoking with COVID-19, using selfreported symptoms to categorise people as suspected cases. In models adjusted for age and sex, current smokers were more likely to have the thenclassic COVID-19 symptoms of fever, new persistent cough and breathlessness. Associations for reporting a greater number of symptoms—a marker of disease severity— were even greater. Analyses of the openSAFELY data, which covers the primary care records of 40% of the UK population linked to more than 10 000 COVID-19 deaths, similarly found that both former and current smokers were more likely to die of COVID-19. What both of these studies have in common is that results and interpretations differ between statistical models adjusted only for age and sex and those that are adjusted for a wider range of factors such as preexisting conditions. Analyses adjusted for factors including diagnosed disease found that smokers were at lower risk of COVID-19 than never smokers, stoking more interest in the notion that smoking tobacco could be protective. However, the openSAFELY team conducted post hoc analyses of their finding that smokers appeared less likely to die of COVID-19, which gaveconfidence that this apparent decrease in risk is incorrect. This apparent association was driven by collider bias, where overadjustment in fully adjusted models produces spurious results. Specifically, post hoc analyses found that the protective effect of smoking was driven primarily by adjustment for chronic respiratory disease, meaning that these analyses were adjusting out one of the primary pathways through which tobacco smoking increases risks. The Clift study adds to our confidence that tobacco smoking does not protect against COVID-19 as their Mendelian randomisation analyses are less susceptible to confounding than previous observational studies. Additionally, a Living Review of the existing evidence favours an association between current smoking and COVID-19 severity, while recent data from the Real Time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT) study finds that smoking is associated with a higher probability of persistent symptoms 12 weeks after COVID-19 infection (socalled long COVID-19) 9 Together this evidence all reinforces the existence of the negative impacts of smoking on COVID-19 outcomes. A respiratory pandemic should be the ideal moment to focus collective minds on tobacco control. A new Tobacco Control Plan for England is due to be published later this year, which presents an opportunity to redouble our efforts. In April, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) marked almost 60 years since the influential Smoking and Health report with a new suite of recommendations to tackle the blight of smoking. While the decline in smoking in the last 60 years is a testament to previous efforts, the 1962 report noted that 'both social custom and commercial pressure outbid the voice of caution', and this remains true today. The latest RCP report notes that the UK is not on track to meet goals of smoking prevalence being under 5% by 2030 and that smoking remains a major cause of health inequality. It offers 10 recommendations to correct this. These include new measures such as raising the legal age of sale to 21 years and annual increases in taxation as well as action to reduce the price gap between cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco. Further efforts to support smoking cessation are needed, combining optout tobacco dependency treatment in the National Health Service with tailored support for some groups. Groups highlighted for specific attention include those in the most socioeconomically deprived conditions, LGBT people and those with serious mental illnesses. Finally, the RCP recommends restricting the opportunities for the tobacco industry to exploit loopholes in regulation. The tobacco industry has a long history of such efforts that continue to this day, including recently using product innovation to circumvent the 2020 ban on menthol cigarettes. These efforts must be curtailed and the tobacco industry excluded from all policymaking if the UK is to be smokefree by 2030. Together, the measures recommended in the RCP report offer an opportunity to make smoking history, and a respiratory pandemic is the perfect time to do so.


The model for school-linked services is based on the ideal of providing a coherent and seamless web among school professionals and other service agencies. However, schools are often organized around specialized functions that are not wholly aligned and coordinated in function and purpose. This paper examines the nature of schools as "aggregative" (as opposed to "integrative") organizations and the implications for implementation of an integrated, school-linked-services reform initiative. The theoretical framework of "new institutionalism" (March and Olsen, 1984; Powell and DiMaggio, 1991) is used to analyze the design and implementation of a neighborhood-based, school-linked-services effort, referred to as Community-Based Collaboration for Families (CBCF), in a medium-sized midwestern city. Data were obtained from a longitudinal, qualitative analysis of three urban schools and a low-income neighborhood. The paper suggests that reform initiatives such as school-linked services fail to consider the nature of school organization, thereby contributing to the aggregative, rather than coordinated and systemic, functions of schools. Although the services might be integrated, the school as an organization is not: the aggregative school design, which institutionalizes functions into a set of subsystems, contrasts with the coherent, integrative purpose and structure of integrated services. Reforms therefore constitute "add-ons." No matter how tightly integrated and collaborative the school-linked-services model, the school organization is not designed to respond similarly. (Contains 31 references). (LMI) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** AGGREGATIVE OR INTEGRATIVE SCHOOL-LINKED SERVICES? ATTEMPTING TO LINK AN INTEGRATIVE REFORM DESIGN WITH AN AGGREGATIVE SCHOOL ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN


Renal tubular dysgenesis (RTD), a rare, lethal, autosomal recessive disorder, is characterized by short and poorly differentiated proximal tubules and associated with hypoplastic calvaria. We report two cases of RTD with hypoplasia of the calvaria. Microscopically, proximal tubules in the kidneys were not seen on routine H&E stain. Almost all tubules in the cortex were stained for epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), confirming the absence of proximal tubule differentiation. The autopsy findings, microscopic features and the etiology of this rare condition is discussed and compared with literature data.


This thesis examines a question of stability in stochastic and deterministic systems with memory, and involves studying the asymptotic properties of Volterra integro-differential equations. The type of stability that has been established for this class of equations is important in a variety of real-world problems which involve feedback from the past, and are subject to external random forces. These include modelling endemic diseases, and more particularly the modelling of inefficient financial markets.

The theine of the thesis is to subject a dynamical system with memory to increasingly trong and unpredictable external noise. Firstly, a fundamental deterministic Volterra quation is considered. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the solution to approach nontrivial limit are known. A strengthened version of these conditions is shown to be necessary and sufficient for exponential convergence to a nontrivial limit.

Next, a Volterra equation with a fading stochastic perturbation is studied. Two types f stochastic convergence are considered: mean square and almost sure convergence. Conditions re found which ensure that the solution converges to a non-equilibrium random imit. Moreover, the rate at which this limit is approached is established. In the mean quare case, necessary and sufficient conditions on the resolvent, kernel and noise are determined o ensure this rate of convergence. In the almost sure case, the same conditions re found to be sufficient; furthermore, it is shown that the conditions on the resolvent and he kernel are necessary. A correspoilding result was also found to hold for a more general lass of weakly singular kernels. As in the deterministic case, necessary and sufficient onditions for the solution to converge exponentially fast to its limit are found.

Finally, a stochastic Volterra equation with constant noise intensity is considered. This ives rise to the process analogous to Brownian motion, which has applications to mathematical inance. It can be shown that the increments of the process converge to a stationary tatistical distribution, which is Gaussian distributed. The conditions under which uch convergence can take place are completely characterised. In fact, a solution of a orresponding Volterra equation with infinite memory is shown to have exactly stationary ncrements which match the limiting distributions of the increments of solutions.


The objective of this research was to analyze the combining ability of nine tropical maize lines from PT. BISI International, Tbk's collections across two locations. The research used a complete diallel mating design according to Griffing's method 1. Randomized completely block design was used as an experimental design with three replications in each location, Kediri and Nganjuk, East Java. Result of the combining ability analysis revealed that location effect was significant for all traits. Additive gene effects were more important in controlling plant height, ear length, ear diameter and 1,000-grain weight while non-additive gene effects were more important in controlling days to harvest, ear weight per plot and yield potency. Good combiners across locations for days to harvest were Sr-1#247 and Sr-1#086. Sr-1#001 and Loe#187; Pron#077 and Loe#057; Pron#142 and Loe#187; Loe#187 and Loe#057; Sr-1#001 and Loe#187 were a good combiners for ear length, ear diameter, 1,000-grain weight, ear weight per plot and yield potency, respectively. Best specific combinations for several important traits were generated from parent lines with high x low GCA. Sr-1#001xLoe#055; Loe#187xLoe#055 and Loe#057xLoe#055 were the best for ear weight per plot and yield potency. Keywords: combining ability, diallel, G x E interaction, tropical maize


Antigen-specific immunotherapies (ASI) require successful loading and presentation of antigen peptide into the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) binding cleft. One route of ASI design is to mutate native antigens for either stronger or weaker binding interaction to MHC. Exploring all possible mutations is costly both experimentally and computationally. To reduce experimental and computational expense, here we investigate the minimal amount of prior data required to accurately predict the relative binding affinity of point mutations for peptide-MHC class II (pMHCII) binding. Using data from different residue subsets, we interpolate pMHCII mutant binding affinities by Gaussian process (GP) regression of residue volume and hydrophobicity. We apply GP regression to an experimental dataset from the Immune Epitope Database, and theoretical datasets from NetMHCIIpan and Free Energy Perturbation calculations. We find that GP regression can predict binding affinities of 9 neutral residues from a 6-residue subset with an average R2 coefficient of determination value of 0.62 ± 0.04 (±95% CI), average error of 0.09 ± 0.01 kcal/mol (±95% CI), and with an ROC AUC value of 0.92 for binary classification of enhanced or diminished binding affinity. Similarly, metrics increase to an R2 value of 0.69 ± 0.04, average error of 0.07 ± 0.01 kcal/mol, and an ROC AUC value of 0.94 for predicting 7 neutral residues from an 8-residue subset. Our work finds that prediction is most accurate for neutral residues at anchor residue sites without register shift. This work holds relevance to predicting pMHCII binding and accelerating ASI design.


Glyoxal, a reactive aldehyde, is a decomposition product of lipid hydroperoxides, oxidative deoxyribose breakdown, or autoxidation of sugars, such as glucose. It readily forms DNA adducts, generating potential carcinogens such as glyoxalated deoxycytidine (gdC). A major drawback in assessing gdC formation in cellular DNA has been methodologic sensitivity. We have developed an mAb that specifically recognizes gdC. Balb/c mice were immunized with DNA, oxidatively modified by UVC/hydrogen peroxide in the presence of endogenous metal ions. Although UVC is not normally considered an oxidizing agent, a UVC/hydrogen peroxide combination may lead to glyoxalated bases arising from hydroxyl radical damage to deoxyribose. This damaging system was used to induce numerous oxidative lesions including glyoxal DNA modifications, from which resulted a number of clones. Clone F3/9/H2/G5 showed increased reactivity toward glyoxal-modified DNA greater than that of the immunizing antigen. ELISA unequivocally showed Ab recognition toward gdC, which was confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of the derivatized adduct after formic acid hydrolysis to the modified base. Binding of Ab F3/9 with glyoxalated and untreated oligomers containing deoxycytidine, deoxyguanosine, thymidine, and deoxyadenosine assessed by ELISA produced significant recognition (p > 0.0001) of glyoxal-modified deoxycytidine greater than that of untreated oligomer. Additionally, inhibition ELISA studies using the glyoxalated and native deoxycytidine oligomer showed increased recognition for gdC with more than a 5-fold difference in IC50 values. DNA modified with increasing levels of iron (II)/EDTA produced a dose-dependent increase in Ab F3/9 binding. This was reduced in the presence of catalase or aminoguanidine. We have validated the potential of gdC as a marker of oxidative DNA damage and showed negligible cross-reactivity with 8-oxo-2′-deoxyguanosine or malondialdehyde-modified DNA as well as its utility in immunocytochemistry. Formation of the gdC adduct may involve intermediate structures; however, our results strongly suggest Ab F3/9 has major specificity for the predominant product, 5-hydroxyacetyl-dC.


The starting point of this paper is a desktop research assessment model that does not take properly into account the complexities of research assessment, but rather bases itself on a series of highly simplifying, questionable assumptions related to the availability, validity and evaluative significance of research performance indicators, and to funding policy criteria. The paper presents a critique of this model, and proposes alternative assessment approaches, based on an explicit evaluative framework, focusing on preconditions to performance or communication effectiveness rather than on performance itself, combining metrics and expert knowledge and using metrics primarily to set minimum standards. Giving special attention to early career scientists in emerging research groups, the paper discusses the limits of classical bibliometric indicators and altmetrics. It proposes alternative funding formula of research institutions aimed to support emerging research groups.


Physical activity plays an important role in the well-being and development of adolescents. Physical activity habits expressed in terms of frequency and duration are consistently associated with sociodemographic factors such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status. However, there is less evidence of the relationship between the type and context of physical activity in adolescents. The aim of this article is to analyze physical activity habits and their relationship with sociodemographic factors in Chilean adolescents. The cross-sectional study consisted of 7,263 adolescents aged between 10 and 20 years old, students from both public and private schools in all regions of Chile. Physical activity habits were examined by means of a self-report questionnaire. The age groups were classified according to the three stages of adolescence (early: 10 to 13, middle: 14 to 16, and late: 17 to 20 years old). Socioeconomic level was established based on the school vulnerability index (SVI) of the school attended by each adolescent. In the study it was obvious to the level of physical activity for the adolescents was below the international recommendations. A statistically significant association can also be found between the sociodemographic factors studied and the physical activity habits reported by the young people. The multivariate regression analysis established that the risk of not achieving the physical activity recommendations was 2.8 times higher in females than in males, 2.4 times higher in the older age groups (14–16 and 17–20 years old) compared to the 10–13-year age range and 1.1 times in the medium and high vulnerability groups than in the low socioeconomic vulnerability group. These findings highlight the importance of considering all these factors holistically whenever designing programs or public policies that promote the development of healthy physical activity habits in adolescents.


In order to stimulate organic farming governments generally use a mix of temporary hectare payments and provision of public services for stimulating the development of the organic sector. In this paper a conceptual model is developed for determining a socially optimal hectare payment for any given level of public services. Farm heterogeneity, due to the variability of soil quality and management skills, is explicitly taken into account. Using an n-th price auction mechanism farmers indicate what their reservation subsidy is for a given level of public input provision. The outcome of this problem is utilized in the government's optimization problem. We found that the level of per hectare socially optimal subsidy increases significantly with the elasticity of the social welfare function and decreases significantly with the degree of farmers' heterogeneity in suitability of growing organic crops (OC) as well as with the level of complementary governmental services. The total area planted for OC is also quite sensitive to these parameters. The effects of the deadweight loss parameter and the degree of risk aversion on per hectare subsidy and on total organic acreage are relatively small.


Sir .—The well-intentioned proposal of Brown and Melinkovich 1 in the June 1992 issue of AJDC is a collection of very pretty Band-Aids based on the premise that care for the poor is a responsibility of the noble-minded. Developing a cadre of "full-time physicians dedicated to serving the poor" is nowhere near the same as universal access. I submit that this Lady Bountiful system will not work. How about a single system that provides all essential care available to all our people as other developed countries have? Separate (but supposedly equal) medical systems for the poor have all the realworld problems that plague the Department of Veterans Affairs and Medicaid. Let us do it right. If poor people would have access to care like everyone else, we would not need another Band-Aid. Let us get behind the Physicians for a National Health Program (312-554-0382) and create a single-payer system that


A method of free energy calculation is proposed, which enables to cover a wide range of pressure and temperature. The free energies of proton-disordered hexagonal ice ~ ice Ih ! and liquid water are calculated for the TIP4P @ J. Chem. Phys. 79 , 926 ~ 1983 !# model and the TIP5P @ J. Chem. Phys. 112 , 8910 ~ 2000 !# model. From the calculated free energy curves, we determine the melting point of the proton-disordered hexagonal ice at 0.1 MPa ~ atmospheric pressure ! , 50 MPa, 100 MPa, and 200 MPa. The melting temperatures at atmospheric pressure for the TIP4P ice and the TIP5P ice are found to be about T m 5 229 K and T m 5 268 K, respectively. The melting temperatures decrease as the pressure is increased, a feature consistent with the pressure dependence of the melting point for realistic proton-disordered hexagonal ice. We also calculate the thermal expansivity of the model ices. Negative thermal expansivity is observed at the low temperature region for the TIP4P ice, but not for the TIP5P ice at the ambient pressure. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. @


This commemorative essay considers Carolee Schneemann's voice as expressed through performative utterances and written words, with particular focus on Interior Scroll (1975). The essay argues that the performance's documentation in photographs, the primary means of experiencing the work, has come at the expense of attention to Schneemann's voice. The essay reflects on the work of evoking Schneemann's voice through limited records in relation to the process of grief following the artist's death. Schneemann's "sonic shadow," the essay argues, emerges through affirmative mourning. The essay was composed originally for the memorial service for Schneemann at Judson Memorial Church, New York, on 3 May 2019.


In general, peace agreements with power-sharing provisions are analysed at a national level. This article offers insights into the practices of power-sharing in the local arena of western Cote d'Ivoire, in the town of Man. It investigates what brought about a change towards peace in the re- gion of Man and then presents local forms of power-sharing between the community leaders and the rebels who have established a rather complex system of domination and taxation in the territory they occupy. Moreover, the implementation of a territorial power-sharing device, which is part of the peace agreement negotiated among the warring parties at the national level, is analysed: the redeployment of state administration to the rebel-held zones of the country. The ethnographic data on which the article is based reveals that the actors at the local level have their own strategies to address urgent needs and that they play a more active role in peacemaking than is usually ac- knowledged.


'Beside the great issues of progress, sovereignty and economic justice that swirl around the MNE, taxation sounds like a matter for petty minds that warm to accountancy. That instinct is squarely wrong, because it turns out that arrangements for taxing corporate net incomes constitute the dominant factor in the division of spoils between source and host country' Caves (1982). In recent years tax avoidance has come under scrutiny from the public, the media and the government. Tax planning is the way in which companies efficiently manage the payment of taxes using a variety of methods to reduce tax legally. It is a key function of multinational enterprises (MNEs), yet little is known about the way in which it is implemented. Internalization theory underpins the research contained in this thesis which argues that early International Business (IB) theory had a more explicit focus on tax and the opportunities that it confers on the MNE. Tax, it is argued, gives MNEs a financial advantage over domestic companies. The development of IB theory more recently has failed to build on this early understanding and consequently tax has become a neglected topic within the field of IB. This study aims to enhance our understanding of tax planning phenomena and the way in which US MNEs are able to manage their Effective Tax Rate (ETR). It is an innovative study, considering the importance of tax planning to the MNE as well as providing new insight into the way in which tax planning is conducted within the MNE. Mixed methods of qualitative and quantitative research are used in this study which helps to examine the MNE's tax planning in a holistic and systematic manner. This includes in-depth and detailed analysis from the parent-firm level to the subsidiarylevel, and interviews with subsidiary managers and tax experts to obtain their insights and views. Specifically, a series of interviews with senior tax executives from UK subsidiaries of US MNEs and experts from tax advisory firms is conducted, focusing on the experience of the MNE subsidiary operating in the UK. The study shows the 6 importance of the people within the business in terms of setting the tone for tax planning and strategy and the risk that the organisation is prepared to take. A quantitative study examines 94 large US MNEs from the group perspective. The analysis uses two different measures of the ETR and a measure of the cash held by the company to improve the understanding of the ways in which tax-planning strategies are implemented. The analysis unpicks the impact of different characteristics of the companies to add to our understanding of what drives the heterogeneity of approaches in place. A series of six case studies is used in the final section to reconcile the findings from the two empirical studies – the interviews and the parent-level data analysis. Using published accounting data and other company information (e.g. management discussion, disclosure notes, and organizational structure and business configuration) the case studies make a clear contribution by providing detailed analysis of the companies involved over a ten year time horizon. Key Findings and Contributions This study makes a new key theoretical contribution by extending knowledge about the motivations and abilities of MNEs to plan their tax affairs efficiently. Early work within IB considered transfer pricing alone and this subject has then been neglected in recent years. This study demonstrates that transfer pricing is only one part of the complex tax (and tax planning) interactions between governments and MNEs. It highlights the need to distinguish between the value appropriation (rent seeking) aspirations of MNEs, which are the primary concern of governments, and the value creation (efficiency based) internalization activities of MNEs as they use internal prices to overcome exogenous market imperfections (Rugman, 1980). Furthermore, findings from the interview research suggest the importance of aspects, such as the experience of the individuals' and the company's overall attitude to risk that the development of theory must take into account. This thesis reaffirms the centrality of financial planning (an in particular tax planning) to internalization theory. 7 Early theoreticians could not test the economic models that they developed. The quantitative research in this thesis builds an economic model which is then tested empirically. The importance of the size of a firm, the use of intellectual property, the use of small tax havens and the proportion of women on the board are found to be important factors in determining the aggressiveness of the tax stance adopted by US MNEs. The findings from this research have important implications for policy makers by providing new and useful insights into the way in which MNEs plan their tax strategies. The research will also be of interest to managers within the firm, adding to their understanding of the role of tax in corporate strategy.


In this paper, we optimize the energy efficiency (bits/s/Hz/J) of device-to-multi-device (D2MD) wireless communications. While the device-to-device scenario has been extensively studied to improve the spectral efficiency in cellular networks, the use of multicast communications opens the possibility of reusing the spectrum resources also inside the groups. The optimization problem is formulated as a mixed integer non-linear joint optimization for the power control and allocation of resource blocks (RBs) to each group. Our model explicitly considers resource sharing by letting co-channel transmission over a RB (up to a maximum of $r$ transmitters) and/or transmission through $s$ different channels in each group. We use an iterative decomposition approach, using first matching theory to find a stable even if sub-optimal channel allocation, to then optimize the transmission power vectors in each group via fractional programming. In addition, within this framework, both the network energy efficiency and the max-min individual energy efficiency are investigated. We characterize numerically the energy-efficient capacity region, and our results show that the normalized energy efficiency is nearly optimal (above 90% of the network capacity) for a wide range of minimum-rate constraints. This performance is better than that of other matching-based techniques previously proposed.


This thesis addresses battered women's leaving processes. Leaving is conceptualised in a wider sense, i.e. as disentanglement from violent relationships beyond the physical break-up. The general aim of the thesis is to study how emotion and cognition are shaped around the act of leaving. Feminist theory on violence against women and the sociology of emotions are the main theoretical frameworks used to enhance understanding of women's exiting from violence. The thesis is built on two sets of qualitative interview material with women who have left abusive heterosexual relationships. The material consists of a total of 49 interviews. In Paper I, Why Does She Leave? The Leaving Process(es) of Battered Women, three overlapping leaving processes are described: Breaking Up, Becoming Free and Understanding. Breaking Up covers action, i.e. the physical breakup. Becoming Free covers emotion and involves release from the strong emotional bond that battered women may develop to their batterers. Understanding covers cognition and is a process that entails women defining the relationships they have lived in as abusive and themselves as victimised. In Paper II, A Fool to Keep Staying" – Battered Women Labelling Themselves "Stupid" as an Expression of Gendered Shame, the informants labelling themselves "stupid" is investigated. Feeling stupid for staying in the abusive relationship and "allowing" oneself to be mistreated are the main themes. It is proposed that feeling–and labelling oneself –stupid is an expression of gendered shame and reflects unfinished Understanding processes. In Paper III, Leaving Jekyll and Hyde – Emotion Work in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence, battered women's emotion work is investigated. The results suggest a process in which victims initially conceptualised abusers as good, but subjection to violence led to a cognitive-emotive dissonance responded to by emotion work. Over time, conceptualisations of abusers shifted from good to bad and efforts were made to change emotions from warm to cold. In Paper IV, Jekyll and Hyde or "Who is this Guy?" – Battered Women's Interpretations of their Abusive Partners as a Mirror of Opposite Discourses, the informants' interpretations of their abusers as "Jekyll and Hyde" are analysed against the background of two opposite discourses: the pathology/deviance discourse and the feminist/normality discourse. Complex mixes and combinations of understandings were found in the informants' interpretations which were, however, dominated by the pathology/deviance discourse. During analysis of the material, a third image emerged, beyond Jekyll and Hyde, i.e. the abusers as "hurt boys"; it was argued this image might prolong the Becoming Free process and serve as a direct impediment to leaving. The results of the thesis indicate that emotion and cognition are interconnected and in process around the act of leaving.


Nutritional approaches to the treatment of aging and neurodegenerative diseases have been shown to have potential benefits. Fruits or vegetables provide a cocktail of phytochemicals with multiple actions. Spirulina, a blue green alga used for thousands of years as a food source by the Aztecs, is known to contain large amounts of β-carotene and several phycocyanins with potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. We examined neuroprotective effects of a spirulina 0.1% supplemented diet in the G93A SOD1 mouse model of ALS beginning at 5 weeks of age and continuing for 10 weeks. Spirulina dietary supplement significantly maintained body weight and extension reflex, and reduced inflammatory markers and motor neuron degeneration in G93A mice. These findings provide initial evidence that nutrition supplementation with spirulina has a neuroprotective support for dying motor neurons. A spirulina supplemented diet may be a potential alternative or adjunctive treatment for ALS.


The theoretical formula is proposed for cross section's bending capacity of simply-supported U-section steel-encased concrete composite beams. The result shows that the theoretical formula is in good agreement with the experimental results. This paper concludes that the calculated values based on current steel structure design code of China are very close to the experimental ones. Therefore, this kind of composite beams can be analyzed based on the calculation methods of composite steel and concrete beams in steel structure design code, and it is accurate to calculate the bending capacity based on the assumption of complete shear connection.


The article tries to question the premises of the critical subject. Is critique, understood as a subjective judgement, still possible, or have we reached a medial and political situation where this is no longer an option? The article turns to Horkheimer and Adorno and confronts their ideal of a critical theory with the criticism directed to it from Peter Sloterdijk. Somehow the critical thinking which the Frankfurt School inaugurated seems to have taken two directions today: either a cynical, resigned one, or an activist one. The article argues that both may be understood as attempts to preserve the subject, in the same way as Adorno was accused of by Sloterdijk. In that perspective, the possibility of critique may appear to be non-existent. However, if critique is understood, with Luc Boltanski, not as an activity performed by an individual critic, but rather by an institution, by society, the situation appears in a different light. This is, the article argues, the necessary step to take: to liberate criticism from individualism, and understand the individual critic not as the origin of critique, but as its medium.


Calibration is a fundamental stage of the radiocarbon (14C) dating process if one is to derive meaningful calendar ages from samples' 14C measurements. For the first time, the IntCal09 calibration curve (Reimer et al. 2009) provided an internationally ratified calibration data set across almost the complete range (0 to 50,000 cal BP) of the 14C timescale. However, only the last 12,550 cal yr of this record are composed of terrestrial data, leaving approximately three quarters of the 14C timescale necessarily calibrated via less secure, marine records (incorporating assumptions pertaining to the temporally variable "marine reservoir effect"). The predominantly annually laminated (varved) sediment profile of Lake Suigetsu, central Japan, offers an ideal opportunity to derive an extended terrestrial record of atmospheric 14C across the entire range of the method, through pairing of 14C measurements of terrestrial plant macrofossil samples (extracted from the sediment) with the independent chronology provided through counting of its annual laminations. This paper presents new data (182 14C determinations) from the upper (largely non-varved) 15 m of the Lake Suigetsu (SG06) sediment strata. These measurements provide evidence of excellent coherence between the Suigetsu 14C data and the IntCal09 calibration curve across the last ~12,000 cal yr (i.e. the portion of IntCal based entirely on terrestrial data). Such agreement demonstrates that terrestrial plant material picked from the Lake Suigetsu sediment provides a reliable archive of atmospheric 14C, and therefore supports the site as being capable of providing a high-resolution extension to the "wholly terrestrial" (i.e. non-reservoir-corrected) calibration curve beyond its present 12,550 cal BP limit.


The petrochemical as well as zircon U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotopic studies of granulite facies metamorphic rock from the Taoxi Group in eastern Nanling Range, Central Cathaysia indicate that its protolith is the sedimentary rock with low maturation index. The clastic materials are mostly from middle Neoproterozoic (~736 Ma) granitoid rocks with minor Neoarchaean and Paleoproterozoic rocks. The timing of this Neoproterozoic magmatism is in agreement with the second period of magmatism widespread surrounding the Yangtze Block. Hf isotopic data indicate that the Neoproterozoic granitoids resulted from the recycled Paleoproterozoic mantle-derived crustal materials. The sedimentary rock was deposited in Late Neoproterozoic Era, and carried into low crust in Early Paleozoic. The partial melting of the meta-sedimentary rock took place at about 480 Ma and subsequently granulite facies metamorphism occurred at ca. 443 Ma. The zircons forming during this time interval (Early Paleozoic) show large Hf isotope variations, and their εHf(t) values increase from -13.2 to +2.36 with decreasing age, suggesting the injection of mantle-derived materials during partial melting and metamorphism processes in the Early Paleozoic. Calculation results show that this metamorphic rock, if evolved to Mesozoic, has similar isotopic composition to the nearby Mesozoic high Si peraluminous granites, implying that this kind of granulite facies metamorphic rock is probably the source material of some Mesozoic peraluminous granitoids in eastern Nanling Range.


Successful rehabilitation of stroke patients is strongly dependent on the engagement of patients. During a whole rehabilitation program, mundane rehabilitation exercises can easily become routine for patients, leading to boredom and as a result to ineffective functional recovery. This has been taken into consideration just by few rehabilitation systems. Engagement in rehabilitation can be decomposed into long term engagement (LTE) and short term engagement (STE) for the reason that their indicators and stimulation strategies are different. This paper proposes various engaging strategies to optimize both LTE and STE of patients. Actually, proposes to combine the strategies concerning the whole rehabilitation program and the strategies to be applied during single rehabilitation exercises. Based on the proposed reasoning model, a cyber-physical computingbased solution for a personalized rehabilitation system is proposed. Various cyberphysical characteristics, such as function augmentation, adaptive and learning control, are being implemented in the system in order to realize the various strategies of engagement.


There is an increased level of activity in the biomedical and health informatics world (e-prescribing, electronic health records, personal health records) that, in the near future, will yield a wealth of available data that we can exploit meaningfully to strengthen knowledge building and evidence creation, and ultimately improve clinical and preventive care. The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) 2008 Health Policy Conference was convened to focus and propel discussions about informatics-enabled evidence-based care, clinical research, and knowledge management. Conference participants explored the potential of informatics tools and technologies to improve the evidence base on which providers and patients can draw to diagnose and treat health problems. The paper presents a model of an evidence continuum that is dynamic, collaborative, and powered by health informatics technologies. The conference's findings are described, and recommendations on terminology harmonization, facilitation of the evidence continuum in a "wired" world, development and dissemination of clinical practice guidelines and other knowledge support strategies, and the role of diverse stakeholders in the generation and adoption of evidence are presented.


Ensuring the health of the elite athlete is embedded in the Olympic Movement Medical Code,1 and a top priority for International Sports Federations (IF).2 With this objective in mind, cardiovascular preparticipation screening (PPS) is now widely advocated.3–5 While seen as a necessary step in the prevention of the often silent conditions associated with sudden cardiac death (SCD), reports documenting its implementation among the various IFs are sparse. Fifty-six per cent of IFs currently implement PPS,2 however, only FIFA has documented their findings regarding the feasibility of such practice.

The adaptive response to intensive continuous exercise varies greatly depending on the sport played, and so the determination of normative cardiac values per sport has benefits when interpreting the standardised, sport-unspecific guidelines currently in place. The selection bias among some sports may also lead to a greater incidence of pathology associated with SCD.6

One of the challenges often faced by IF's in implementing a successful screening programme is the global representation of athletes. Historically, it was therefore …


Today, Nickel-Titanium (NiTi)-based shape memory alloy (SMA) wires are already used in a wide range of commercial actuator applications. The combination of their unique properties, such as their high energy density as well as their biocompatibility provides a broad range of applications. The former in particular allows for designing light-weight actuator systems with high forces using small installation spaces. In systems like emergency brakes or switch disconnectors, which require high forces as well as high actuation speed, the high-power capability of NiTi actuators is exploited. The presented work discusses the development of a giant power catapult demonstrator, that combines the high-speed and high-force capability of SMA wires.
 To illustrate the vast force, speed, and power potential of SMA wires, a bowling ball is launched from its resting position into the air using SMA wire bundles. For demonstration purposes a target altitude for the bowling ball of 500 mm is chosen, requiring a theoretical actuation force of F ≅ 920 N. To be able to launch the bowling ball to the desired height, an instantaneous energy release with an overall peak-power of P ≅ 0.5 MW is required.


Developing methods to differentiate the relative contributions of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) to ammonia (NH3) oxidation has been challenging due to the lack of compounds that selectively inhibit AOA. In this study, we investigated the effects of specific bacteria- and eukaryote-selective protein synthesis inhibitors on the recovery of acetylene (C2H2)-inactivated NH3 oxidation in the marine AOA Nitrosopumilus maritimus and compared the results with recovery of the AOB Nitrosomonas europaea. C2 H2 irreversibly inhibited N. maritimus NH3 oxidation in a similar manner to what was observed previously with N. europaea. However, cycloheximide (CHX), a widely used eukaryotic protein synthesis inhibitor, but not bacteria-specific protein synthesis inhibitors (kanamycin and gentamycin), inhibited the recovery of NH3-oxidizing activity in N. maritimus. CHX prevented the incorporation of (14)CO2 -labeling into cellular proteins, providing further evidence that CHX acts as a protein synthesis inhibitor in N. maritimus. If the effect of CHX on protein synthesis can be confirmed among other isolates of AOA, the combination of C2H2 inactivation followed by recovery of NH3 oxidation either in the presence of bacteria-selective protein synthesis inhibitors or CHX might be used to estimate the relative contributions of AOB and AOA to NH3 oxidation in natural environments.


The aim of this study is to understand the experiences of Syrian children in preschool class and the peer culture they create. The study, which was designed as an ethnographic case study in preschool class. Participantsare 17 children, five year old and their parents. The data were collected in10 months through the participant observer technique and the interview, observation, document analysis. According to the study results, it was understood that the language of speech, the approach of Turkish families and the Turkish children who are popular in the classroom are important elements in peer culture. The teacher's approach towards Syrian children and the teaching materials she used determined the course of the school life. The close relationship of Syrian families with the school and their positive attitudes towards language learning facilitated the children's adaptation to school.


Mental illness in children is on the rise in the United States, but research shows that the American public does not understand the science of child mental health—what it is and what supports and disrupts it. To build public understanding of child mental health and support for the systemic solutions needed to promote it, the FrameWorks Institute developed a "core story"—a master narrative—that advocates and experts in the field can use to communicate about the issue more effectively. This research is built on interviews with experts and members of the public, cognitive analyses of frames commonly used in media stories about the issue, and surveys of frame elements such as values and metaphors. Findings show that two values—Prosperity and Ingenuity—lifted support for policies related to child mental health. The Levelness Explanatory Metaphor, which compares child mental health to the levelness of a table, is also effective.


Stainless steel materials have been used in many fields such as automotive, food, medical, chemistry etc. by applying machining operations although they are categorized under a group of materials whose machinability is difficult due to high strength, low thermal conductivity and work hardening tendency during machining. It is possible that these materials can be machined by using various cutting fluids, but cutting fluids have disadvantages such as being harmful to the environment and health. In this study, it is intended that the minimum quantity lubrication method is applied by using commercial vegetarian cutting fluid and uncoated and TiN coated WC cutting tools during milling of AISI 304 (austenitic stainless steel) and AISI 420 (martensitic stainless steel) materials and the sustainable machining is realized. Milling operations will be repeated even by applying the dry machining for the purpose of being able to compare the results obtained from minimum quantity lubrication method. The workpiece surface roughness and chip forms were investigated.


Abstract Modern scientific research in the field of risk management is mainly devoted to general questions of the market theory of risk management, including qualitative risk analysis, protection of the rights of property owners and the study of the problems of selection of the best strategies for profitable market investments. The development of risk management mechanisms for small- and medium-sized businesses in Lithuania compared to other European markets is happening too slowly. The situation is aggravated by unstable situation of the field itself, corrupted officials and the lack of advanced control strategies for internal and external risk management in organisations. All these factors confirm the need to develop new management tools in the field of risk management at such enterprises. The aim of this article is to develop the mechanism of risk management of small and medium-sized businesses and justify it scientifically. The methodology of the research is based on the principles of objectivity using methods of comparative, logical, mathematical statistics and system-structural analysis.


Noninvasive breath tests for gastric emptying are important techniques for understanding the changes in gastric motility that occur in disease or in response to drugs. Mice are often used as an animal model; however, the gamma variate model currently used for data analysis does not always fit the data appropriately. The aim of this study was to determine appropriate mathematical models to better fit mouse gastric emptying data including when two peaks are present in the gastric emptying curve. We fitted 175 gastric emptying data sets with two standard models (gamma variate and power exponential), with a gamma variate model that includes stretched exponential and with a proposed two-component model. The appropriateness of the fit was assessed by the Akaike Information Criterion. We found that extension of the gamma variate model to include a stretched exponential improves the fit, which allows for a better estimation of T1/2 and Tlag. When two distinct peaks in gastric emptying are present, a two-component model is required for the most appropriate fit. We conclude that use of a stretched exponential gamma variate model and when appropriate a two-component model will result in a better estimate of physiologically relevant parameters when analyzing mouse gastric emptying data.


From North Asia to Francophone Africa, and from Europe to North America, new Foursquare ministries will be taking root in part because of the faithful giving of The U.S. Foursquare Church. Phase one allocations, which have just been announced, account for one-third of the total Connection 2011 offering. These funds are already impacting the mission field.


We consider a multi-link interference network that is tapped by an external eavesdropper. To conceal information from the eavesdropper, legitimate links are equipped with transmitter-based friendly jamming (TxFJ) and receiver-based friendly jamming (RxFJ). Each link seeks to maximize its secrecy rate by determining the best power assignment (PA) for the information, TxFJ, and RxFJ signals. Joint optimization of these parameters is a non-convex problem. Hence, we seek sub-optimal solutions. Specifically, we find a lower bound on the allocated power to TxFJ above which positive secrecy is achievable for a given link. Once positive secrecy is achieved, the secrecy rate becomes monotonically increasing in the power at the transmitter (Alice). Therefore, the rest of Alice's power is allocated to the information signal. Despite its sub-optimality, such an approach precludes the possibility of employing successive interference cancellation by the eavesdropper. The RxFJ PA of a link is adjusted using an on-off PA that depends only on the link's local channel state information (CSI). With every link following such a strategy, we model this interaction as a non-cooperative game. We derive sufficient conditions for the uniqueness of the resulting Nash equilibrium. We then propose an algorithm to implement the PA game. Lastly, we relax knowledge of eavesdropper's CSI (E-CSI) and propose a framework that is robust to unknown E-CSI. Our results indicate that this robust framework performs close to when E-CSI is fully known to legitimate links. Moreover, empirically it is shown that the secrecy sum-rate scales with the power budget of transmitters.


Abstract Bacteria and archaea are locked in a near-constant battle with their viral pathogens. Despite previous mechanistic characterization of numerous prokaryotic defense strategies, the underlying ecological drivers of different strategies remain largely unknown and predicting which species will take which strategies remains a challenge. Here, we focus on the CRISPR immune strategy and develop a phylogenetically-corrected machine learning approach to build a predictive model of CRISPR incidence using data on over 100 traits across over 2600 species. We discover a strong but hitherto-unknown negative interaction between CRISPR and aerobicity, which we hypothesize may result from interference between CRISPR associated proteins and non-homologous end-joining DNA repair due to oxidative stress. Our predictive model also quantitatively confirms previous observations of an association between CRISPR and temperature. Finally, we contrast the environmental associations of different CRISPR system types (I, II, III) and restriction modification systems, all of which act as intracellular immune systems.


In response to increasing concerns about jail and prison overcrowding, many officials and legislatures across the U.S. have undertaken different efforts aimed at reducing the prison population, such as reduced sentence lengths and early release of prisoners. Thus, there is currently a high degree of public interest regarding how these changes in policy might affect recidivism rates of released offenders. When considering the research on the relationship between incarceration and recidivism, many studies compare custodial with non-custodial sentences on recidivism, while fewer examine the impact of varying incarceration lengths on recidivism. This article provides a review of the research on the latter. While some findings suggest that longer sentences may provide additional deterrent benefit in the aggregate, this effect is not always consistent or strong. In addition, many of the studies had null effects, while none of the studies suggested a strong aggregate-level criminogenic effect. Overall, the literature on the impact of incarceration on recidivism is admittedly limited by important methodological considerations, resulting in inconsistency of findings across studies. In addition, it appears that deterrent effects of incarceration may vary slightly for different offenders. Ultimately, the effect of incarceration length on recidivism appears too heterogenous to be able to draw universal conclusions. We argue that a deepened understanding of the causal mechanisms at play is needed to reliably and accurately inform policy.


Human selenium status of various groups of Bashkortostan population was studied. Mean serum selenium levels for healthy adults of Ufa, Salavat, Sterlitamak were 98 +/- 11 mg/l (n = 92), 96 +/- 10 mg/l (n = 35), 103 +/- 11 mg/l (n = 20). Serum selenium concentrations for rural populations were found to be smaller: Tolbasy - 84 +/- 13 mg/l (n = 10), Chishmy - 87 +/- 10 mg/l (n = 11), Ufa suburb - 86 +/- 9 mg/l (n = 10). 7-10 years old children of Ufa demonstrated 83 +/- 11 mg Se/l serum and 11-14 years old group - 95 +/- 11 mg/l. Pregnant women serum selenium happened to decrease by 20-30% at the end of the second part of gestation and reached the values of 55-70 mg/l in small settlements. Thus epidemiological data show the possibility of potential selenium deficiency risk for rural pregnant women and 7-10 years old children in Bashkortostan.